Chapter 5 — The Golden Dragon's Decree

At the mention of an impure bloodline, my father’s expression flickered with faint unease, though he remained silent. Uyen Khe, however, furrowed her brows, her tone dripping with disdain. "Sister, you truly lack refinement. Why not cover that egg with a cloth? To let outsiders see it—does that not bring shame upon our house?"

Around us, gazes of contempt and mockery converged upon me. While my egg was not of the lowest order, in the noble Dragon Palace, it was considered a blemish—a stain sufficient to erode the dragon’s prestige. Ignoring the judgment of the crowd, I hugged my egg tightly to my chest. It is my own flesh and blood! What does its rank matter? As long as my child is safe and healthy, that is enough.

My father ground his teeth, his voice heavy with disappointment. "I had hoped you would amount to something… but instead… Hmph! The family can no longer count on you." Having said this, he immediately turned to heap praise upon Uyen Khe.

Just then, the Dragon King appeared. Seeing the egg in my arms, he narrowed his eyes in displeasure, though he did not deign to speak. When he infused his spiritual power into the golden egg Uyen Khe carried, his face lit up with an unusual radiance, and he poured a vast amount of essence into it. When it came to my egg, he merely flicked his finger with a careless touch, letting the moment pass instantly. Long Dat Tran frowned, ready to speak up, but I caught his hand to stop him. My child would not rely on the grace of others.

"Look! The golden egg is about to hatch!" someone in the crowd shouted. Suddenly, every eye turned toward it. The shell, saturated with the King's spiritual power, began to fissure.

"To witness the hatching of a Golden Dragon—it is an honor not seen in a thousand years!" Long Nhac Chan knelt by the egg, and unsatisfied with the speed of its emergence, he violently poured even more of his power into it. With a series of sharp cracks, the shell splintered, and a brilliant golden radiance erupted, illuminating the entire hall. Everyone held their breath.

As the final fragment fell to the floor, what appeared was not the Golden Dragon everyone expected, but a serpent covered in shimmering gold scales.

"Why… why is it a snake?" A roar of confusion and horror swept through the hall. The legitimate Crown Prince had produced a Golden Serpent? Even if it glowed with a golden hue, its very species had been altered. The triumphant smile on Long Nhac Chan’s face froze. He lunged forward, snatching the serpent up, staring at it with trembling eyes, his face filled with disbelief. "Impossible! This is impossible! This is absolutely not my flesh and blood!"

*Slap!*

He struck Uyen Khe hard across the face, his eyes burning red. "You wretched woman! What have you done?"

"I didn't! I… I did nothing!" Uyen Khe’s face turned deathly pale, her eyes filled with terror.

"Hahahaha!" A wild, arrogant laugh suddenly echoed through the hall. "The heavens favor our Serpent clan! A century of waiting, and at last, a Golden Serpent is born!"

From the crowd, a man draped in black robes embroidered with golden clouds stepped forward, carefully cradling the small serpent in his palms. "It is… the fifth prince of the Serpent clan, So Duc!" a palace elder exclaimed. Realizing his identity was exposed, So Duc turned to flee, but the Dragon King cast a spell, trapping him in place.

"Serpents are but lowly creatures! What right do you have to step foot in my palace?" The Dragon King roared, his authority shaking the very foundations of the hall.

So Duc hugged the serpent tightly, laughing manically. "Dragon King, you consider yourself so noble? It was your own Crown Princess who begged me to carry her child!"

The moment those words were uttered, every gaze in the hall shifted toward the Crown Prince. No one dared to say it, but everyone understood: the Prince had been betrayed. Long Nhac Chan’s face turned black as ink. His trembling hands gripped Uyen Khe’s throat, his voice a guttural snarl. "You wretched woman! Your boldness knows no bounds! I will carve you into a thousand pieces!"

Uyen Khe shuddered, her body turning as cold as ice. "My Prince, he forced me! I have been loyal only to you; how could I ever betray you?"

But Long Nhac Chan would not be appeased. Uyen Khe struggled to pry his fingers from her throat and, in her panic, threw herself toward So Duc, screaming, "Why did you deceive me! Didn't you say you were a Golden Dragon?"

So Duc offered a scornful, cold laugh. "If I hadn't said that, would you have been willing to bear me a Golden Serpent?"

Only then did I fully understand. The golden egg had been of the Serpent royal bloodline all along. Uyen Khe thought she was grasping at destiny, never imagining she would become the laughingstock of the realm. She was merely a fool—naive enough to believe that she could produce a Golden Dragon to replace the truth.

Uyen Khe staggered back, her face bloodless, overcome with hysteria. "How… how can this be! I definitely gave birth to a Golden Dragon!" She shook her head incessantly, eventually breaking into a crazed laugh, pointing directly at Long Nhac Chan. "Hahaha! You, who are incapable of producing offspring, actually dreamt that I would bear a Golden Dragon for you? Have you never looked in a mirror to see if you were even worthy?"

"If I hadn't overheard the royal physician speak the truth, I would have spent my life worrying that there was something wrong with me! It is all your fault! You are incompetent, yet you dared to dream! You were betrayed—and you deserved every bit of it!"

"You seek death!" Long Nhac Chan’s face turned dark as a chasm. In an instant, he drew his sword and plunged it through Uyen Khe’s chest. Blood sprayed across the floor; she opened her eyes wide, falling in an agony of regret. So Duc transformed into his true form, attempting to flee, but Long Nhac Chan shifted into his Golden Dragon form and crushed him with a single swipe of his claw. Returning to human form, he looked down at the small golden serpent on the ground and stomped it into a bloody mass of bone and gore.

At that exact moment, a crisp *snap* echoed from within my arms. The egg I held cracked open, and a blinding golden light shot toward the heavens, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. Following this, a youthful yet heaven-shaking dragon roar resonated through the hall. A pure, perfect Golden Dragon broke free from its shell, spreading its wings to soar into the high skies.

"It is a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon!" The Dragon King’s expression shifted, filled with stunned disbelief. A Five-Clawed Golden Dragon was the destined King, the only one worthy of inheriting the true divine mandate.

"Why… why can you, a lowly woman, give birth to a Golden Dragon! Why!!!" Long Nhac Chan’s expression twisted into one of pure venom. With a roar that tore through the heavens, he transformed into a giant dragon and charged furiously toward my little one.

"Dragon Treasure!" I screamed, launching myself after them. Beside me, another roar filled the air; Long Dat Tran had also transformed into a Golden Dragon, flying alongside me to defend our child.

Long Nhac Chan coiled his massive body, golden light churning in waves. His oppressive aura was so terrifying that many in the hall fell to their knees, trembling. But blinded by hatred, his every move was aimed at murder. I was no match for him and was nearly crushed several times. To protect me, Long Dat Tran took a heavy blow, his massive body sent spiraling to the ground with a thunderous crash.

"Dao Cam! You are not worthy of birthing a Golden Dragon! All of you… must die!" Long Nhac Chan roared, focusing all his power into his claws, the killing intent heavy enough to darken the sky as he dove toward my child.

*BOOM!*

In an instant, black clouds surged to shroud the nine heavens. Amidst a deafening roll of thunder, a beam of golden light, bright as divine judgment, descended and shook the very earth. Long Nhac Chan shrieked as his body plummeted, striking the ground, his form charred black, his life force extinguished.

He was dead. Punished by the heavens, his soul scattered into nothingness.

"Mother." A soft, youthful voice reached my ears. The little Dragon Treasure rushed to me, winding itself around my wrist. In an instant, the pain in my body vanished. It turned, breathing out a trail of spiritual light that healed Long Dat Tran’s injuries.

"Mother, Mother…" The little dragon nuzzled against my chest, rubbing its face against mine, filled with affection. Long Dat Tran walked over, wrapping his arms around me, reaching out with one hand to play with our child.

In that moment, everything felt like a dream. I looked down at the charred corpse on the ground, sighed faintly, and stepped closer, whispering, "It is fortunate that in this life, you did not choose me. Do you know? In my previous life, the little Green Dragon was raised with my own flesh and blood. Yet you slaughtered it without mercy! Long Nhac Chan… you were doomed long ago."

As I spoke, the corpse shuddered, and his eyes snapped open, filled with spite and regret. But none of it mattered anymore. I turned away, cradling my child to my chest, and leaned into Long Dat Tran’s embrace. In this lifetime, I was blessed by the grace of the heavens. From this day forward, the rest of our lives… would surely be radiant and filled with light.